"I'm bored! I want to read my book!"

A couple of Fridays ago a minor snowstorm inspired our county school system to announce an early closing, not because of the sheer amount of snow but because the temperature was hovering just above freezing and conditions could have turned icy at any time.  (As a certified snow driving wimp, I approved!)  I picked my nephews up at school and kept them at my house until their dad could collect them.

Both immediately availed themselves of the food possibilities at Aunt Donna's house--fruit, fruit leather, Oreos, Pepperidge Farm goldfish, pistachio nuts, popcorn, and, in nephew A's case, Tandoor Kitchen's frozen chicken tikka masala dinners.  Nephew A settled in to play basketball on the Wii. 

Nephew B wanted to go to the library.

"I'm bored," he kept saying.  Okay, whining. I hate to admit that he was doing something that annoying, but it was a definite whine. "I want to read my book.  Can't we go to the library?"

I offered him books.  I do have a modest selection of books that would be appropriate for his age group.  But he didn't just want a book.  He wanted the next book in the series he was reading: The Secrets of Droon, by Tony Abbott. He'd read books 1-4, and had checked out books 6 and 7 at the library that week, but alas!  Book 5 (The Great Ice Battle) had been checked out.

The Fairfax County Public Library system has an excellent online presence--I could log in and see which of the two dozen branches currently had a copy of The Great Ice Battle on their shelves.  None of the nearby ones, alas--certainly none I'd want to drive to with the nephews in the back seat given the definite possibility of black ice after sunset, not to mention the fact that my brother would be arriving at any time to collect the boys.

So I put a copy on hold and told the nephew that if Daddy couldn't take him to get it that night I'd pick it up the next day.  Nephew B continued to whine about wanting the book, beg to go to the library, and refuse all other offers of entertainment.  No, he didn't want to read another book.  Or play Wii.  Or watch television.  Or play games on my iPhone. He finally settled for the iPhone, but at least every fifteen minutes he'd ask why we couldn't go to the library.

Normally I'd have found the whining annoying . . . except he was whining for a book!  How cool is that?

The following week their school was closed two days for parent teacher meetings, and I had the boys for a good chunk of Tuesday afternoon.  Once again, Nephew B's reading was being held up by the fact that his most recent library visit had failed to turn up a copy of book 8, The Golden Wasp. Once again I looked up where the book could be found, and then I brokered a deal.  Nephew A was resistant to a library trip--"We just went yesterday!"--but was willing to cooperate with it if Nephew B would play half an hour of basketball with him. Done!

We went to the library.  Nephew B scored The Golden Wasp.  I took out book 1 (The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet) so I could see what the fuss was all about and Nephew A, who had read the first book already, felt inspired to check out book 2 (Journey to the Volcano Palace.)

I don't know how Nephew A is doing, and I'm only just starting book 3, The Mysterious Island, but this weekend I took Nephew B to the library again, where we checked out books 17 through 21. 

As a kid who spent much of my childhood walking around with my nose in a book, I am delighted with Nephew B's current passion for reading.  (And lest I seem to be playing favorites, I should add that as a certified klutz, I am equally delighted to see Nephew A's great skill in baseball, basketball--pretty much any sport he plays.)

But I'm worried.  There are only 44 books in the Droon series.  (As I type that, I am imagining Mr. Abbott saying "Only 44 books? Good grief, what more do you want!")  I have bookmarked his website.  He has at least three other (shorter) series and a few non-series books.  But I'm already worried about what we can give Nephew B when he reaches the end of The Final Quest (last book in the Droon series).  Any suggestions?

Comments

[Sandi]

Try these:
Nathaniel Fludd: Beastologist series (first is Flight of the Phoenix) by R.L. LaFevers
Dan Greenburg's Weird Planet (a little younger) or The Zack Files
Bailey School Kids series by Debbie Dadey
Dragon Slayers' Academy by Kate McMullan
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
Half Magic by Edward Eager
Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne
Non-fantasy, but I was fascinated by the Encyclopedia Brown books when I was young (Donald J Sobol)
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

[Catherine]

Suggestion from an Australian fan of yours - The Deltora series by Emily Rodda. My son flew through them at age seven.

[Shari]

Maybe Nephew B would like the Beast Quest series by Adam Blade. Wiley and Grampa's Creature Features by Joe Scroggs is a very funny series that he also might enjoy.

[Charlaine Harris]

I'm so delighted to hear they're reading. And that they go to libraries.

[Donna Andrews]

I am making a list ladies! Thanks!

And Charlaine, not only does he go to the library but he knows his way around his local branch better than I do.

[Storyteller Mary]

Percy Jackson series comes to mind . . . and hurrah for nurturing a READER!!!

[Lindsey]

The Warrior books by Erin Hunter have been really popular at my library so if he's intrigued at all by those -- here's a list of anthropomorphic books he might like:

Owls of Ga'Hoole by Kathryn Lasky
Wolves of Beyond by Kathryn Lasky
Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe
Dragonet Prophecy by Tui Sutherland
Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel